Philippines’ Leadership on Road Safety Renewal While Motivating the EAP Region

Abstract

The Philippines has been leading an internal transformation toward improving road safety which has been accompanied and supported by the World Bank and its Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF). This paper gives an overview of the World Bank’s activities with the Government of the Philippines (GOP) through lending operations and technical assistance projects while highlighting the importance of a strong commitment from national and local authorities, stakeholders, and Non-Government Organizations (NGOs). This overview illustrates the experiences from these interventions and how working with local stakeholders ensures the sustainability of systems and projects. The support given by the World Bank from 2019 to 2022 included: lending operations such as the Cebu and the Manila Bus Rapid Transit Project, which have been accompanied by road safety audits, and the Mindanao Transport Connectivity Improvement Project, which consists of a systematic road safety program. Technical assistances were also carried out, including the implementation of Data for Road Incident Visualization Evaluation and Reporting (DRIVER); Road Safety Reimbursable Advisory Service (RAS), the Mindanao Transport Connectivity Technical Assistance (TA); Active Transport Development in the Philippines; and the Assessment of Vehicle Inspection Systems AVIS for the Philippines. Part of the success of the Philippines in improving road safety during these engagements includes a systematic approach through various tools involving multiple stakeholders. These stated elements have been conveyed by a strong ownership and leadership by country counterparts and different government departments’ senior management, who have been leading by example as active participants from the activities and capacity building. The other key features from this collaboration have been the evidence-based and institutional sustainability approach, in terms of carrying out an assessment of the institutional capacity and working on measures to strengthen it. This collaboration also focuses on data-driven interventions and best international practices within local context and needs through tailored capacity building and hands-on training, while mainstreaming road safety practice through the reviewed and improved national guidelines.